Vail Resorts (NYSE:MTN) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Vail Resorts, Inc. (NYSE:MTN) shares gapped down before the market opened on Friday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $187.95, but opened at $180.47. Vail Resorts shares last traded at $177.51, with a volume of 177,448 shares traded.

The company reported ($4.67) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($4.28) by ($0.39). Vail Resorts had a net margin of 9.59% and a return on equity of 23.41%. The firm had revenue of $265.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $264.84 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($3.35) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year.

Vail Resorts Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 8th will be issued a $2.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 8th. This represents a $8.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.92%. Vail Resorts’s payout ratio is 120.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MTN shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Vail Resorts from $179.00 to $182.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Vail Resorts from $218.00 to $194.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Vail Resorts from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Vail Resorts from a “neutral” rating to an “underweight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $217.00 to $176.00 in a report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Vail Resorts from $161.00 to $155.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $211.75.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Vail Resorts by 150.9% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 138 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Vail Resorts in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. increased its position in Vail Resorts by 318.8% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the period. Canton Hathaway LLC increased its position in Vail Resorts by 66.7% during the 2nd quarter. Canton Hathaway LLC now owns 250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Vail Resorts by 27.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Vail Resorts Trading Down 3.9 %

The company has a market cap of $6.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $179.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $191.72.

Vail Resorts Company Profile

Vail Resorts, Inc, through its subsidiaries, operates mountain resorts and regional ski areas in the United States. It operates through three segments: Mountain, Lodging, and Real Estate. The Mountain segment operates 41 destination mountain resorts and regional ski areas. This segment is also involved in the ancillary activities, including ski school, dining, and retail/rental operations, as well as real estate brokerage activities.